Remembering James Earl Jones

If you only knew the power of the dark side.

(00:04)
I find the bad guys are often interesting. Since Darth Vader, I guess, I’m still exploring that energy in myself.

(00:14)
I am your father.

No.

I tied my own shoes once. It is an overrated experience.

(00:23)
All over the world people respond to Coming to America, “Oh, you’re the King Jaffe Joffer?” It’s not the grand, complicated work that gets the attention, it’s the simple work. And I think that’s appropriate.

(00:35)
We shall return to Zamunda at once.

I will not leave without Lisa.

James is a brilliant man, a brilliant, brilliant man. I hope one day I can be respected like that man is respected in this industry.

That hairball is my son.

(00:52)
Nobody’s sitting there saying, “Voiced by James Earl Jones.” I think if you get the audience thinking about whose voice it is, you’ve made a big mistake.

(00:59)
Who now is your father if it is not me?

With his unmistakable baritone voice, James brought depth to all the characters he played.

The force is strong with this one.

(01:10)
They often ask me to say lines from Star Wars and I know none of them, I never memorized them. “I have you now Obi-Wan,” is the only one.

(01:17)
I have you now.

James actually told us he wasn’t George Lucas’ only choice for the voice of Darth Vader.

He thought of Orson Welles, of course, at first. But he knew that people knew that voice very well and that it would be distracting from the character if he got Orson. So, he got me, a Mississippi boy raised in Michigan. So that any regionality I might have abandoned or shaken, gotten rid of. And I was a voice then that nobody knew.

(01:47)
I sense something, a presence I’ve not felt since…

(01:53)
Star Wars was created by the kids who saw it 10 times. Why they like Darth Vader, I don’t know. My son hates him. And when he first heard it when he was three, it scared him and he couldn’t understand why his father was contributing to that evil.

But Jones’ voice went from menacing to kind as Mufasa in The Lion King.

One day, Simba, the sun will set on my time here and will rise with you as the new king.

(02:21)
Lion King, I think is a beautiful movie. My job was to try to evoke not only king regal, but a father real.

(02:29)
And so, we are all connected in the great circle of life.

(Singing).

What we achieved was a doting father with a very dopey grin on his face. The dopey grin is mine. I only I grin like that.

James is also the guy who said this dozens of times each day.

This is CNN.

(02:54)
I have a voice that probably suggests that I know what I’m talking about, and I have not a clue. My wife can tell when somebody’s on a voiceover, I can’t tell. I can’t tell when it’s me. My son can tell.

Yet, the man who voiced these iconic lines actually struggled with a speech impediment as a boy.

I’m a stutterer. I didn’t talk from the age of eight to 14, actually six to 14. And I rediscovered the power of speech and then they couldn’t shut me up.

(03:21)
The best work of my life has been recorded, except in the memory of people who saw it. And I’m totally satisfied with that.

You’ll think I’m crazy.

I already think you’re crazy.

Of course, James’s career went far beyond just voiceover work.

Tell him what you think. Come on.

(03:39)
Baseball was life and I was good at it.

(03:43)
The fire is out. The [inaudible 00:03:45] power is on.

From his portrayal of Alex Haley in Roots: The Next Generations-

I found you, Kunta Kinte. I found you.

… to his recurring role as Admiral James Greer in films like The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games, Mr. Jones has left his indelible mark on the movies.

Excuse me, Jack, tell me one thing in life that is absolutely for certain.

But his favorite movie, that would be a film about baseball called Field of Dreams.

I’m going to beat you with a crowbar until you go away.

Whoa, wait. You can’t do that.

I think there happens a union between essentially Ray’s soul and Mann’s soul.

(04:29)
I like the small stories that tell a good story. And I like the big ones too, but the small ones I cherish most.

(04:38)
Go the distance.

Yes. Do you know what it means?

James Earl Jones had a prolific television career as well, breaking barriers right from the start. His earliest roles in the 1960s were as a doctor on soap operas like Guiding Light and As the World Turns. And while he lent his voice to the Simpsons starting in 1990, his first sitcom appearance didn’t happen until 1997 on Frasier, reuniting him with his Broadway co-star, Kelsey Grammer.

We did Othello years ago. I’ve always wanted to work with James again and I just think nothing but the highest of thoughts.

(05:17)
Have we met?

No, but I thought that was you.

(05:20)
I’m so happy that I’m losing my virginity on this show with Kelsey because I’ve never done a sitcom before. I’m not sure if this is my bag. And probably because I’m not facile nor am I funny, and I don’t want to ever try to be funny.

Actually, Mr. Jones showed off some impressive comedic chops when at the age of 83, he played himself on The Big Bang Theory. ET was with him on the set in 2014 where even in rehearsal he had the crew cracking up.

I have one thing to say to people like you, I like Star Wars too.

What is it about the show that makes you laugh so much?

I mean, the actors, and it’s the company of actors and what’s written for them is always very crisp and sharp, stays in the focus of kind of the nerd world.

He’s just such an honest-to-God actor. He’s one of those people that not only do you forget, there’s no way you could ever really fully realize the amount of work he’s done.

Right.

Ay, ay, ay.

Ay, ay, ay, bang, bang.

(06:31)
I don’t text, I don’t Skype, I don’t… What are the other things you do?

Tweet and Facebook.

I don’t tweet.

Instagram.

I don’t Face.

None of that? FaceTime?

None of that. No.

None of that?

No, I don’t know if I ever will.

(06:48)
We dedicate the 1991 Emmy Awards celebration telecast to, comedy.

(06:57)
I can be very relaxed about things, probably to the point of being silly.

Comedy aside, the stage is where Mr. Jones’ legacy is most deeply rooted. A Shakespearean actor, he originated 24 roles on Broadway, including his Tony-winning performances in the Great White Hope and Fences, with Courtney B. Vance.

How come you ain’t never liked me?

Who in the hell ever said I got to like you?

I love him. He’s really like my surrogate father.

I’m the most arrogant person you’ve met, so I have to pretend I’m humble or else it really gets out of hand.

In 2011, James was given an honorary Oscar, technically making him an EGOT winner.

If an actor’s nightmare is being on stage buck naked and not knowing his lines, what the heck do you call this? Out from the wings steps Sir Ben Kingsley and he has me an Oscar. Frankly, what the heck else would you call that but an actor’s dream?

(08:16)
I find it difficult to think comparatively in my personal life as well as in my career. I don’t see the point of thinking comparatively, just the best against myself.

(08:26)
Everybody has a story, no matter what status that the human being is, he has a story worth telling. That’s my job to help evoke that.